Auralic Aries (Hardware) - Impressions and Information

[Doak]

I've settled on acquiring an Aries in the very near future.

Have decided that buying used may not be worth dispensing with Auralic's 3 year warranty.

Seeking recommendations on supportive retailer - none here locally.

 

TIA

[Doak]

Check out the dealer list on the Auralic website. Acoustic Sounds comes to mind as a good dealer.

 

Looking for recommendation based on first hand experience from someone who's gotten good assistance/support/follow-up from an Auralic dealer.

 

Thanks.

[Doak]

I bought mine from Acoustic Sounds. They were the only ones to have it in stock at the time (Aug 2014 IIRC). I had a flawless experience in terms of them shipping quickly and getting my unit without any issues.

 

HOWEVER, they were clear they would not take the unit back for a refund - I even asked if they would do that with a restocking fee, and they were reticent. So I can't fully endorse them.

 

Thank you.

[Doak]

Maybe if you tell us what state you're in somebody would bring it over to test out. If you're near me, I'd do it in a NY minute. Then again I've been known to ship all kinds of stuff around.

 

Louisiana (the other LA)

Very near New Orleans.

[Doak]

I got mine from Jeff at Audio Philosophy. He took really good care of me. Highly recommended.

 

Wow, Jeff is right up the road in Baton Rouge. Just spoke w/him. Great guy.

We'll be doing some business soon.

 

Thanks!

[Doak]

Ok, so now I'm one of the those guys that's quoting themselves...

 

I sent an email to Auralic regarding the sound quality issue and wanted to see if I could roll back to 2.5 which turned out to be no problem. They did tell me if I do go back to 2.5 that when the Lightning DS firmware 2.1 comes out that it will not be compatible with 2.5 but I don't have to update to 2.1 if I chose not to.

 

So after a couple of email exchanges I opted to go for the 2.5 roll back. No less than 15 minutes later I noticed the sound had improved to what I had before. I thought that was fast but noticed I was still on 2.6.1 but the bass and musicality I loved the night before had returned. I'm not sure what happened but everything is sounding wonderful right now. Could have been my amp needing more time to settle, that new tube took a turn then came back, I don't know but it's all good at the moment.

 

Auralic customer service responded fast to my first inquiry and deserve some praise for acting fast to fix the issues here and trying to accommodate me with my sound quality. In the end all is well and I'm a happy camper once again.

 

"So after a couple of email exchanges I opted to go for the 2.5 roll back. No less than 15 minutes later I noticed the sound had improved to what I had before. I thought that was fast but noticed I was still on 2.6.1 but the bass and musicality I loved the night before had returned."

 

Figured this was worth repeating - for emphasis - in lieu of posting it in bold red print.

[Doak]

So THAT'S what happened to my album covers.

[Doak]

For me, the "ARIES STARTING..." message is unrelated to the firmware version, as I've had the issue with every firmware version ever used.

 

I'll try futzing with my network settings, and if nothing resolves the issue, I may resort to leaving the Aries on 24/7.

 

Yes, just leaving it powered all of the time solved this problem completely for me.

Is there any reason not to leave it on?

On occasion I do need to power back up I no longer have any hangups.

Only time mine is powered down is if I'll be away from the house for multiple days.

[Doak]

My whole system is plugged into a PS Audio power regenerator, which I power off after a listening session. This makes it natural to turn off the Aries, along with everything else.

 

That said, the regenerator can designate certain outlets as being "always on," and so I'll probably do that to keep the Aries running continuously.

 

Sounds like a plan.

My understanding is that it takes a couple of hours for the Aries' Femto clocks to achieve thermal stability.

[Doak]

From firmware version 2.9.2 Build 20151017 to a new version 2.10. What is this..?

 

A surprise package.

[Doak]

STRONG hint regarding MQA compatibility on the Auralic Facebook page.

 

[Doak]

Posted on Auralic Facebook page @ 10am CST today:

"Version 3.0 of Lightning Streaming Platform Firmware is coming, Adding MQA and RoonReady. Please visit AURALiC in Venetian Suite 29-122 during the 2016 CES, January 6 – 9.

AURALIC North America Inc. and its parent company, AURALIC LIMITED, are pleased to be the first developer of a complete line of high-resolution audio streamers to offer fully implemented capability for two of the industry’s significant new technologies: MQA decoding and the RoonReady integration.

Both these eagerly-awaited technologies will be demonstrated at the 2016 CES, and will be available soon afterwards via online firmware update. MQA decoding will be available for all three AURALiC’s lightning streaming devices: ARIES, ARIES LE and ARIES MINI. The RoonReady capability will initially be available for the ARIES and ARIES LE.

As TIDAL streaming is already integrated into the Lightning DS software platform, all three of AURALiC’s streaming models will be ready to handle TIDAL’s anticipated launch of MQA-encoded music.

During the CES, AURALiC will stream TIDAL and MQA exclusively, and will also be demonstrating the RoonReady capability.

Xuanqian Wang, AURALiC’s president & CEO, pointed out that “with ARIES and ARIES LE fully decoding MQA music, they bring the MQA technology to any existing DAC on the market. (The ARIES MINI has its own built-in DAC.)"

[Doak]

Man I'm looking at getting a demo Aries right now. I beginning to wonder if this thing is giong to be just a lot of trouble and a head ache..

I've used my Femto Aries for several months with no real problems except an initial learning curve.

[Doak]

I quess that is what my concern is... The learning curve. They shouldn't make it so difficult to use...

Not a big deal, really. Nothing like trying to optimize a PC for audio playback.

Once you get the hang of things it's basically on autopilot.

[Doak]

Can it be a Windows computer? This all sounds out of my league. I may just stay with LDS and Tidal.

Amen, plus Auralic is throwing big hints that new LDS will possess "Roon-like" features.

Think they added the Roon option as a draw for those folks who've ALREADY bought into Roon.

[Doak]

I have had Firmware Version 3.3 for a long time. I think? Is there a newer version. How do I download the new version?

I've had V3.3 for quite a while also. According to what LDS is telling me, there is no newer version.

[Doak]

Has anyone experienced loud pops through speakers when the playlist moves from a DSD track to a PCM track or vice versa?

 

Quite unnerving if not speaker damaging.

 

What DAC are you using?

[Doak]

The problem I have with the microRendu and I have not listened to it , is it is USB only . Some dacs simply sound better using coax or Aes

It is impossible to plausibly make this not having heard the mRendu.

BTW: Have you or are you using the Uptone Regen with the Aries and your DAC?

I thought the coax input on my Lampizator DAC sounded better (PCM, USB is required for DSD) until I inserted the Regen with a good PSU.

IMO that completely leveled the playing field - at least.

mRendu contains an improved Regen and much more..

[Doak]

Doak: Have you tried the new Aries beta 4.0.3?

No, not part of Beta program. Holding onto my Aries though. Want to hear the new firmware! ;-)

[Doak]

Doak: since you are one of fortunate few with both the Aries and the mR (and multiple power options) aren't you curious to compare what you are now hearing from the mR with the firmware-upgraded Aries?

 

The Auralic beta programme is free, painless to join and if you don't like the beta you can always revert. How about it! Help those of us dying to hear someone with real experience - and the hardware - sound off on these two important bits of kit (in your system of course).

Yes, I do want to know and will do what's necessary.

Honestly didn't know it was so straightforward. Expect to do this shortly.

Thanks for the info and for the push.

[Doak]

Doak: since you are one of fortunate few with both the Aries and the mR (and multiple power options) aren't you curious to compare what you are now hearing from the mR with the firmware-upgraded Aries?

 

The Auralic beta programme is free, painless to join and if you don't like the beta you can always revert. How about it! Help those of us dying to hear someone with real experience - and the hardware - sound off on these two important bits of kit (in your system of course).

OK. Firmware 4.0 b4 is installed and playing.

Over the weekend will have the opportunity to do some comparisons.

 

FYI: I didn't think my mRendu/Sonictransporter/Roon setup pulled ahead of my Aries/Regen UNTIL I added HQPlayer to the mix running on my laptop - 3 devices connected to my router. So, this comparison will be A/B the mRendu setup as stated and the Aries/Regen with newest firmware.

[Doak]

Hi Doak

 

Are you going to try out the Mivera streamer?

Not at this time. Plenty to play with at the moment.

No doubt it's a good machine, particularly when paired with their SuperServe.

[Doak]

OK. Firmware 4.0 b4 is installed and playing.

Over the weekend will have the opportunity to do some comparisons.

 

FYI: I didn't think my mRendu/Sonictransporter/Roon setup pulled ahead of my Aries/Regen UNTIL I added HQPlayer to the mix running on my laptop - 3 devices connected to my router. So, this comparison will be A/B the mRendu setup as stated and the Aries/Regen with newest firmware.

 

Spent a good chunk of the past few days listening to Aries b4.04, Sonictransporter/mRendu in Roon mode and HQP/ST/mRendu setups. IMO the Aries has made SUBSTANTIAL progress in sound quality. I could and maybe will ruminate on the details, but in a nutshell it is the proverbial lifting of a few veils. Aries no longer has the slightly

"warm fuzzy" attitude that mimicked analog in a way. It now sounds VERY clean and clear - top to bottom. Oh that BOTTOM! Quite powerful sounding, but tight and defined - BIG difference here.

This is all a double edged sword as it "tells it like it is." If a system is "on the edge" as far as harshness or sibilance it is going to show it. On the other hand, if everything is "right" it will sound even MORE right. ;-)

 

Comparison to ST/mRendu/Roon mode: IMO, IMS, Aries now sounds much more like this setup though pulls AHEAD with the bigger/better BASS. Of course, as always, YMMV. Congrats to the Auralic crew for continuing to make a good thing better. GREAT JOB!

 

Another MAJOR consideration: Aries is one box TOTALLY plug n play. Set n forget - spend your time listening to music NOT "dicking with" computers. If you also get great pleasure messing with puters, then the Aries is not for you. (Hey, they're out there).

 

Comparison of "new" Aries to HQP on laptop with Fidelizer Pro, Sonictransporter with Roon, microRendu in NAA mode. Good news is that Aries is now competitive here too. When using HQP I like to run my DSD "straight through" into my Lampizator. PCM IMO can benefit from some mild processing/upsampling via HQP's settings. CD/TIDAL make the biggest improvements. There are some benefits here that the Aries can't (yet) march. This setup, no doubt, can sound VERY good. GOOD NEWS is that the Aries also sounds VERY GOOD. Differences IME are NOT large - NOTHING like FW 3 series. Note: This HQP laptop/Roon on ST/mRendu setup though progress towards "simplicity" is still majorly complicated compared to using the Auralic Aries.

 

I intend to let my ears rest for a couple of days, then revisit this - just to TRIPLE check myself. I don't expect any major revelations though I may be able to better detail what I've heard.

 

**ALL setups use the SAME very HQ LPSUs, so NO variables there.

 

Time to prep for that 4th cookout.

Enjoy!

[Doak]

Doak,

 

I want to thank you for spending the time to do a comparison between the Aries with new beta firmware and the mRendu. I look forward to hearing if anything changes when you check again after the holiday weekend.

 

Even though I do not own a mR, I somehow had the feeling that the new Aries beta firmware might well have narrowed the gap between the two devices.

 

One question I have about your set-up: How do you have your Aries mounted (and ditto for the mR)? Possible to post a picture?

 

Thanks.

 

A cellphone sticky pad is used under uRendu and Aries.

Yes, it is absolutely necessary for the dictionary to be situated upside down for best sonics. ;-)

[Doak]

I don't plan on DSD. Will AES be better then USB for Redbook,Tidal or is there no difference?

 

I experimented and fretted output/inputs but after inserting Uptone Regen USB is at least as good as any and plays everything.

So -- case closed.